San Anselmo Boundary Dispute Lawyers and San Anselmo Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in California

Finding out that property lines are improperly drawn and learning that you have been partially occupying your neighbor's land, or vice versa, can cause some very serious legal issues.

Sometimes, neighbors will decide amongst themselves that the issue isn't worth fighting over, and will go on as they did before. This is especially likely if the neighbors are on good terms, and the difference between their use of the land, and the actual property lines, is small (say, a few feet or less). This is an ideal situation, at least in the short term. It can, nonetheless, cause problems in the future - preventing a neighbor from enforcing the actual property lines, if they suddenly have a reason to do so.

In these cases, what often happens is that the owner of the property which is actually larger than he initially believed (due to the property line not being where he thought it was) wants to make use of the further property, and eject his neighbor from it. The other neighbor, on the other hand, will want to keep using the land as before, to avoid having his property shrink.

In addition to the boundary disputes mentioned above, land owners and buyers in San Anselmo, California should also be aware of the possibility of a title dispute. Rather than being a disagreement over the exact boundaries between two pieces of land, a title dispute is a disagreement over who actually owns an entire plot of land. Uncertainty over ownership of land can come up more often than you might think, and is most often caused by a buyer's failure to correctly record a deed, or the accidental loss or destruction of a deed. Sometimes, however, these disputes can be more dishonest in origin: on occasion, unscrupulous sellers of land will attempt to sell the same parcel to more than one person. Obviously, once you've sold land to one person, you can't sell the same land to anyone else, as you no longer own it. These tricksters know this, but are attempting to gain a large amount of money through the multiple sales. Once this is done, they usually attempt to flee the state or country before the buyers discovery they've been duped. This leaves it up to the buyers to figure out amongst themselves who owns the land.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in San Anselmo, California

Courts have many tools at their disposal to resolve boundary disputes. One way is to just re-draw the property lines to reflect how the neighbors had been using the land before the discrepancy was discovered. This doesn't really change the position of either neighbor, and is sometimes the fairest result. This is most often done because the neighbors were both aware of the legal property lines, and that they differed from how they were using the land, and went on using the land anyway.

A court may do the opposite, and decide to enforce the property lines as they're drawn. This will necessarily benefit one neighbor and hurt the other. A court will probably do this if one neighbor knew that his land was encroaching onto another person's property, and actively tried to hide that fact from his neighbor. Obviously, such bad actions shouldn't be rewarded. Conversely, if the neighbor whose land was being encroached upon knew about the discrepancy, and did nothing about it, the court will likely change the property lines to reflect this prior use, to prevent that neighbor from being rewarded for "sitting on his rights."

When a title dispute comes up in San Anselmo, California, the court has to apply some pretty complicated legal and equitable principles. These rules are sometimes very obscure, mainly because they can trace their origins back hundreds of years, to the common-law courts of England. However, a close examination of them reveals their basic goal: deciding ownership disputes based on longstanding conceptions of basic fairness.

Suffice to say, you'll want the assistance of an expert on this subject. In general, however, you should know that courts almost always rule in favor of the buyer who first recorded the deed, AND (not "or") didn't have knowledge of any previous conveyances. This protects the buyer who was most diligent in vindicating his own rights, and acted in good faith (obviously, a buyer who knew about a previous sale of the same land isn't acting honestly).

What Can A San Anselmo, California Attorney Do?

Because of the high stakes, going it alone in a boundary or title dispute is rarely judicious. Therefore, it's almost always a good idea to get a good San Anselmo, California real estate attorney to help you with such legal problems.

Nick Muller was very helpful to me about my case. He understood what I needed and he was very quick to get the job done. I am very grateful for his help

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Accountant

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thanks!

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CLIENT REVIEWS

Carl M.

Seattle, WA

Real Estate, Housing & Property Law

Rating
(3 users)

Overall

Responded in a timely manner

Answered questions clearly

Understood needs

Gave complete and clear information

Knowledgeable in legal area

Good value for money

Would hire again

100%

Would recommend to friend

100%

by Loren Martin, 04/03/2017

I was absolutely pleased with the services Carl Marquardt provided. He was extremely knowledgeable and had an amazing ability to produce clear and precise written arguments. I now understand how essential it is to hire a skilled, professional lawyer. Mr. Marquardt keeps things focused and organized which in the end, made our adversaries lawyer seem less skilled. Carl Marquardt is fair and will be attentive to your needs. He is happy to explain what is going on and will gladly listen to your questions and concerns. I would hire him again without hesitation, and I guess I should include he won for us as well. Thank You!

by Andrea Rosenthal, 04/18/2016

by Richard Campbell, 05/01/2015

CLIENT REVIEWS

David A.

Walnut Creek, CA

Real Estate, Housing & Property Law

Rating
(15 users)

Overall

Responded in a timely manner

Answered questions clearly

Understood needs

Gave complete and clear information

Knowledgeable in legal area

Good value for money

Would hire again

100%

Would recommend to friend

100%

by Emma Toney, 03/01/2016

by Alan Ledford, 01/05/2016

by ewa kiersnowski, 07/22/2014

The legal help was precise, to the point and worth every penny. It gave me personal satisfaction of being represented as a woman confronting a large business corporation. Thank you !

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I am very impressed with "Legalmatch", The attorney follow up, and two referral lawyers got right with me immediately. Initially my only concern with David was distance apart. We spoke when "need be", and he covered more, "in depth" information in regards to my case, that may result in my favor. I consider him my new Business Attorney! I recommend David Anderson ESQ. of Walnut Creek, CA. He is personable, efficient and precise! Thanks Again!

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David responded timely and gave me the information/service I needed. I would recommend David and request his service in the future if needed.

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He did the best job for my case. The judical system is lacking fair trials especially when it comes to the good old boy system in Lake County.

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Mr. Anderson's professionalism was evident with every interaction that we shared. He listened well, researched, and patiently reviewed all of the legal options for my issue. At the close of our relationship, he mailed the remaining balance from my account within an hour of the request, and sent e-copies of all reference files from his findings. Great job!

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The lawyer did an outstanding job taking care of my problem. He did not try to extrapolate the problem into something bigger or more complicated in order to make more money for me and himself even though the odds are good that such a course of action would be profitable. I hired Davis even though he was the most expensive lawyer I consulted. Looks like I made a good choice.

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All I can say is, satisfaction was great

Thanks to Mr. David Anderson

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I would definitely use Mr. David Anderson again. He promptly returns all your calls and is very kind and understanding of your needs.
I would definitely recommend him to any family or friends of mine.

Michael Azzopardi

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Mr. Anderson was very knowlegable and helped me through a stressful time. He drafted a trial brief. He understood the time I had to file and immediatly worked on the case. I went to court feeling scared but confident. I won the case. I would hire Mr. Anderson again and would recommend him to everyone.